| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1Concerning Moab. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Woe to Nebo, for it is laid waste! Kiriathaim is put to shame, it is taken; the fortress is put to shame and broken down; | 1The LORD God of Israel who rules over all spoke about Moab. "Sure to be judged is Nebo! Indeed, it will be destroyed! Kiriathaim will suffer disgrace. It will be captured! Its fortress will suffer disgrace. It will be torn down! |
| 2the renown of Moab is no more. In Heshbon they planned disaster against her: ‘Come, let us cut her off from being a nation!’ You also, O Madmen, shall be brought to silence; the sword shall pursue you. | 2People will not praise Moab any more. The enemy will capture Heshbon and plot how to destroy Moab, saying, 'Come, let's put an end to that nation!' City of Madmen, you will also be destroyed. A destructive army will march against you. |
| 3“A voice! A cry from Horonaim, ‘Desolation and great destruction!’ | 3Cries of anguish will arise in Horonaim, 'Oh, the ruin and great destruction!' |
| 4Moab is destroyed; her little ones have made a cry. | 4"Moab will be crushed. Her children will cry out in distress. |
| 5For at the ascent of Luhith they go up weeping; for at the descent of Horonaim they have heard the distressed cry of destruction. | 5Indeed they will climb the slopes of Luhith, weeping continually as they go. For on the road down to Horonaim they will hear the cries of distress over the destruction. |
| 6Flee! Save yourselves! You will be like a juniper in the desert! | 6They will hear, 'Run! Save yourselves! Even if you must be like a lonely shrub in the desert!' |
| 7For, because you trusted in your works and your treasures, you also shall be taken; and Chemosh shall go into exile with his priests and his officials. | 7"Moab, you trust in the things you do and in your riches. So you too will be conquered. Your god Chemosh will go into exile along with his priests and his officials. |
| 8The destroyer shall come upon every city, and no city shall escape; the valley shall perish, and the plain shall be destroyed, as the LORD has spoken. | 8The destroyer will come against every town. Not one town will escape. The towns in the valley will be destroyed. The cities on the high plain will be laid waste. I, the LORD, have spoken! |
| 9“Give wings to Moab, for she would fly away; her cities shall become a desolation, with no inhabitant in them. | 9Set up a gravestone for Moab, for it will certainly be laid in ruins! Its cities will be laid waste and become uninhabited." |
| 10“Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD with slackness, and cursed is he who keeps back his sword from bloodshed. | 10A curse on anyone who is lax in doing the LORD's work! A curse on anyone who keeps from carrying out his destruction! |
| 11“Moab has been at ease from his youth and has settled on his dregs; he has not been emptied from vessel to vessel, nor has he gone into exile; so his taste remains in him, and his scent is not changed. | 11"From its earliest days Moab has lived undisturbed. It has never been taken into exile. Its people are like wine allowed to settle undisturbed on its dregs, never poured out from one jar to another. They are like wine which tastes like it always did, whose aroma has remained unchanged. |
| 12“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I shall send to him pourers who will pour him, and empty his vessels and break his jars in pieces. | 12But the time is coming when I will send men against Moab who will empty it out. They will empty the towns of their people, then will lay those towns in ruins. I, the LORD, affirm it! |
| 13Then Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, as the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence. | 13The people of Moab will be disappointed by their god Chemosh. They will be as disappointed as the people of Israel were when they put their trust in the calf god at Bethel. |
| 14“How do you say, ‘We are heroes and mighty men of war’? | 14How can you men of Moab say, 'We are heroes, men who are mighty in battle?' |
| 15The destroyer of Moab and his cities has come up, and the choicest of his young men have gone down to slaughter, declares the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts. | 15Moab will be destroyed. Its towns will be invaded. Its finest young men will be slaughtered. I, the King, the LORD who rules over all, affirm it! |
| 16The calamity of Moab is near at hand, and his affliction hastens swiftly. | 16Moab's destruction is at hand. Disaster will come on it quickly. |
| 17Grieve for him, all you who are around him, and all who know his name; say, ‘How the mighty scepter is broken, the glorious staff.’ | 17Mourn for that nation, all you nations living around it, all of you nations that know of its fame. Mourn and say, 'Alas, its powerful influence has been broken! Its glory and power have been done away!' |
| 18“Come down from your glory, and sit on the parched ground, O inhabitant of Dibon! For the destroyer of Moab has come up against you; he has destroyed your strongholds. | 18Come down from your place of honor; sit on the dry ground, you who live in Dibon. For the one who will destroy Moab will attack you; he will destroy your fortifications. |
| 19Stand by the way and watch, O inhabitant of Aroer! Ask him who flees and her who escapes; say, ‘What has happened?’ | 19You who live in Aroer, stand by the road and watch. Question the man who is fleeing and the woman who is escaping. Ask them, 'What has happened?' |
| 20Moab is put to shame, for it is broken; wail and cry! Tell it beside the Arnon, that Moab is laid waste. | 20They will answer, 'Moab is disgraced, for it has fallen! Wail and cry out in mourning! Announce along the Arnon River that Moab has been destroyed.' |
| 21“Judgment has come upon the tableland, upon Holon, and Jahzah, and Mephaath, | 21"Judgment will come on the cities on the high plain: on Holon, Jahzah, and Mephaath, |
| 22and Dibon, and Nebo, and Beth-diblathaim, | 22on Dibon, Nebo, and Beth Diblathaim, |
| 23and Kiriathaim, and Beth-gamul, and Beth-meon, | 23on Kiriathaim, Beth Gamul, and Beth Meon, |
| 24and Kerioth, and Bozrah, and all the cities of the land of Moab, far and near. | 24on Kerioth and Bozrah. It will come on all the towns of Moab, both far and near. |
| 25The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken, declares the LORD. | 25Moab's might will be crushed. Its power will be broken. I, the LORD, affirm it! |
| 26“Make him drunk, because he magnified himself against the LORD, so that Moab shall wallow in his vomit, and he too shall be held in derision. | 26"Moab has vaunted itself against me. So make him drunk with the wine of my wrath until he splashes around in his own vomit, until others treat him as a laughingstock. |
| 27Was not Israel a derision to you? Was he found among thieves, that whenever you spoke of him you wagged your head? | 27For did not you people of Moab laugh at the people of Israel? Did you think that they were nothing but thieves, that you shook your head in contempt every time you talked about them? |
| 28“Leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab! Be like the dove that nests in the sides of the mouth of a gorge. | 28Leave your towns, you inhabitants of Moab. Go and live in the cliffs. Be like a dove that makes its nest high on the sides of a ravine. |
| 29We have heard of the pride of Moab— he is very proud— of his loftiness, his pride, and his arrogance, and the haughtiness of his heart. | 29I have heard how proud the people of Moab are, I know how haughty they are. I have heard how arrogant, proud, and haughty they are, what a high opinion they have of themselves. |
| 30I know his insolence, declares the LORD; his boasts are false, his deeds are false. | 30I, the LORD, affirm that I know how arrogant they are. But their pride is ill-founded. Their boastings will prove to be false. |
| 31Therefore I wail for Moab; I cry out for all Moab; for the men of Kir-hareseth I mourn. | 31So I will weep with sorrow for Moab. I will cry out in sadness for all of Moab. I will moan for the people of Kir Heres. |
| 32More than for Jazer I weep for you, O vine of Sibmah! Your branches passed over the sea, reached to the Sea of Jazer; on your summer fruits and your grapes the destroyer has fallen. | 32I will weep for the grapevines of Sibmah just like the town of Jazer weeps over them. Their branches once spread as far as the Dead Sea. They reached as far as the town of Jazer. The destroyer will ravage her fig, date, and grape crops. |
| 33Gladness and joy have been taken away from the fruitful land of Moab; I have made the wine cease from the winepresses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; the shouting is not the shout of joy. | 33Joy and gladness will disappear from the fruitful land of Moab. I will stop the flow of wine from the winepresses. No one will stomp on the grapes there and shout for joy. The shouts there will be shouts of soldiers, not the shouts of those making wine. |
| 34“From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim and Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also have become desolate. | 34Cries of anguish raised from Heshbon and Elealeh will be sounded as far as Jahaz. They will be sounded from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. For even the waters of Nimrim will be dried up. |
| 35And I will bring to an end in Moab, declares the LORD, him who offers sacrifice in the high place and makes offerings to his god. | 35I will put an end in Moab to those who make offerings at her places of worship. I will put an end to those who sacrifice to other gods. I, the LORD, affirm it! |
| 36Therefore my heart moans for Moab like a flute, and my heart moans like a flute for the men of Kir-hareseth. Therefore the riches they gained have perished. | 36So my heart moans for Moab like a flute playing a funeral song. Yes, like a flute playing a funeral song, my heart moans for the people of Kir Heres. For the wealth they have gained will perish. |
| 37“For every head is shaved and every beard cut off. On all the hands are gashes, and around the waist is sackcloth. | 37For all of them will shave their heads in mourning. They will all cut off their beards to show their sorrow. They will all make gashes in their hands. They will all put on sackcloth. |
| 38On all the housetops of Moab and in the squares there is nothing but lamentation, for I have broken Moab like a vessel for which no one cares, declares the LORD. | 38On all the housetops in Moab and in all its public squares there will be nothing but mourning. For I will break Moab like an unwanted jar. I, the LORD, affirm it! |
| 39How it is broken! How they wail! How Moab has turned his back in shame! So Moab has become a derision and a horror to all that are around him.” | 39Oh, how shattered Moab will be! Oh, how her people will wail! Oh, how she will turn away in shame! Moab will become an object of ridicule, a terrifying sight to all the nations that surround her." |
| 40For thus says the LORD: “Behold, one shall fly swiftly like an eagle and spread his wings against Moab; | 40For the LORD says, "Look! Like an eagle with outspread wings a nation will swoop down on Moab. |
| 41the cities shall be taken and the strongholds seized. The heart of the warriors of Moab shall be in that day like the heart of a woman in her birth pains; | 41Her towns will be captured. Her fortresses will be taken. At that time the soldiers of Moab will be frightened like a woman in labor. |
| 42Moab shall be destroyed and be no longer a people, because he magnified himself against the LORD. | 42Moab will be destroyed and no longer be a nation, because she has vaunted herself against the LORD. |
| 43Terror, pit, and snare are before you, O inhabitant of Moab! declares the LORD. | 43Terror, pits, and traps are in store for the people who live in Moab. I, the LORD, affirm it! |
| 44He who flees from the terror shall fall into the pit, and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For I will bring these things upon Moab, the year of their punishment, declares the LORD. | 44Anyone who flees at the sound of terror will fall into a pit. Anyone who climbs out of the pit will be caught in a trap. For the time is coming when I will punish the people of Moab. I, the LORD, affirm it! |
| 45“In the shadow of Heshbon fugitives stop without strength, for fire came out from Heshbon, flame from the house of Sihon; it has destroyed the forehead of Moab, the crown of the sons of tumult. | 45In the shadows of the walls of Heshbon those trying to escape will stand helpless. For a fire will burst forth from Heshbon. Flames will shoot out from the former territory of Sihon. They will burn the foreheads of the people of Moab, the skulls of those war-loving people. |
| 46Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are undone, for your sons have been taken captive, and your daughters into captivity. | 46Moab, you are doomed! You people who worship Chemosh will be destroyed. Your sons will be taken away captive. Your daughters will be carried away into exile. |
| 47Yet I will restore the fortunes of Moab in the latter days, declares the LORD.” Thus far is the judgment on Moab. | 47Yet in days to come I will reverse Moab's ill fortune." says the LORD. The judgment against Moab ends here. |
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